Sinful Pleasures

Chapter Twelve

***WARNING! THIS CHAPTER RECOUNTS BRIEF PHYSICAL ABUSE AND THE EMOTIONAL TOLL AFTERWARDS! THIS MAY TRIGGER SOME READERS!!***

Derek answered right at Jason's outburst. I vaguely heard Derek say he just pulled up the camera for near the penthouse elevator and was on the way. I slid my phone in the pocket of my pants and gripped onto Damon a little tighter. Within seconds Derek was at our sides. I watched him assess the situation and a very confused look came over his face.

"Would someone please explain to me what the hell happened here?" Derek made his way to me. I could hear sirens making their way towards us and slowly started to relax. "Blaire, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

I could see the concern in Derek's eyes. I nodded my head slowly. "I'm fine. My wrists just might be sore later." I softly started to rub my wrists, slightly cringing at the light bruises starting to form already. I didn't realize Jason had gripped me quite that hard.

"Jason, care to give me your side? The police will be here any minute."

Jason's eyes were full of anger. I had no idea what was going on. "Sure, this jackass here broke my damn nose. This b***h came onto me then acted like she was the victim so that Damon would beat the hell out of me. She has been dragging me along since I started."

I couldn't believe that he was still trying to spin that story. I glared at him and felt the urge to punch him in the face myself. Damon must have felt the tension from my body, because he immediately tightened his hold on me.

"That is not what happened at all Derek. Jason asked me on a date last week when I first met him. I told him that it would be unprofessional and that I was already seeing somebody. I haven't even seen him, let alone talk to him in the last week. Then while I was waiting for the elevator, he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. I quickly realized that it wasn't Damon and moved away from him. He then backed me up against the elevator doors, pinning my hands above my head. He aggressively kissed me and that is when Damon showed up."

I was so focused on telling Derek what really happened, that I didn't even realize that I had started crying. The adrenaline was slowly starting to leave me body, and I could feel myself start to tremble. I felt like I was going to break down any minute. I turned my face into Damon's chest and heard Jason scoff.

"You are such a lying bitch."

"That's enough Jason. Officers, this man just physically abused the owner of this hotel. He will need to be escorted off this property immediately. Blaire, do you want to press charges against him?"

I turned my head and saw two police officers standing near Jason. They were looking at me and I realized that they were waiting on me to answer. "Yes, I want to press charges. And I never want him to step foot inside this hotel again."

One of the officers cuffed Jason and led him outside. The other officer walked towards where we were standing. He asked if there was somewhere private we could go, so that he could take my statement. Derek said we could use his office and led the way. As we walked through the lobby, I realized that a few guests had made their way out to see what was going on. Damon pulled me closer to him and I was thankful when we finally reached the office.

Once we sat down at Derek's desk, I started to retell the officer what had happened. I told him about the conversation with Jason last week and then the incident tonight. I told him that nothing physical happened besides him kissing me and gripping my wrists. He took pictures of my bruised wrists for the files, and asked Derek to see the security footage. I closed my eyes and rested my head on the cool desk.

How did this happen? What did I do to deserve this? I could feel myself becoming emotional again and quickly left the office. I leaned against the wall and buried my face in my hands. I started crying and could feel myself start to shake. A few seconds later, I heard the office door open and felt Damon pull me against his chest. He started to soothe my hair and rub my back. He pressed a kiss into my hair and I felt him rest his cheek against the top of my head.

"The officer said the we are free to go. He said that if there was anything else, he would call. Let's get you back up to the room."

I let Damon lead me to the elevator. When the elevator opened to my foyer, Damon all but picked me up and carried me to my bedroom. He guided my to my bed then walked into the bathroom. I could hear him turning on the water for the bathtub. Damon came back to the bed and helped me undress. He lead me to the bathtub and helped me in. I welcomed the hot water as I sank further into it.

Damon kissed my forehead and left the room. I closed my eyes and instantly felt tears fall down my cheeks. A few minutes later, I heard someone enter the bathroom. I thought it was Damon again, but I opened my eyes to see Lexi with a glass of whiskey in her hands.

"Damon text me. He didn't tell me what happened, but that he thought you needed your best friend. What happened Blaire?"

She sat on the floor beside the tub and handed me the glass. I took a long drink and started to tell Lexi what happened. The tears finally broke free and I was trying to talk in between sobs. I finished telling her and saw that she had tears in her eyes. I covered my face with my hands and continued to sob. I felt Lexi's arms wrap around my shoulders and she just held me while I cried until the tears stopped flowing.

I don't know how long we sat there, but I realized that the water was cold and my fingers were starting to prune up. Lexi helped me out of the tub and handed me a towel. I quickly dried off and wrapped the towel around me. She followed me to my room where Damon had one of his shirts and a pair of his sweatpants waiting on my bed. I quickly changed and we went to the living room. I didn't see Damon anywhere. Then I vaguely saw his shadow out on the patio.

Lexi told me that I better not dare go into the office tomorrow. She said that she was going to take care of the interviews and that I wouldn't need to worry about anything. She gave me another big hug before making her way to the elevator. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down before making my way outside.

Damon turned towards the door when he heard it and opened his arms for me. I quickly walked into his arms and pressed my face against his chest. I could feel his arm tighten around me. There is nowhere else I would rather be right now. He was the only one who made me feel safe.

"I'm so sorry you had to see that. I tried so hard to get away from him. I just couldn't break free from him." I could feel tears threatening to escape again so I took a deep breath and tried to push them away. I could feel Damon pull away from me and I instantly looked up him, confused.

"Blaire, don't you dare apologize for what happened to you. There was no reason for Jason to put his hands on you like that. This wasn't your fault." He pulled me back towards him and hugged me tightly. I then realized that it was a little chilly and felt a shiver ripple through me body. I could hear Damon start to chuckle. "Let's get you into bed love."

He led me inside and we got comfortable in bed. I laid my head on his chest and he wrapped his arm tightly around me. I don't know how long I laid there, but I finally heard Damon's breathing slow and become a little more shallow. I could tell he was asleep. I listened to the steady beat of his heart and finally fell asleep.

I don't know how long I was asleep, but suddenly I was back by the elevator. Jason had my arms pinned above my head again, but this time he didn't just kiss me. He took it further and I was suddenly gasping for air. I was trying to yell Damon's name, but nothing was coming out. I was trying to get away from him when suddenly I felt someone shaking me. I kept screaming to let me go when I finally opened my eyes.

I saw Damon watching me, he hands on my shoulders. He was the one shaking me, trying to pull me from the nightmare. There was worry in his eyes and I couldn't help but grab onto him like my life depended on it. I had never felt this way before. I also had never gone through anything like I did last night. I didn't like the feeling of being afraid in my own home and workplace. Damon gently rubbed my back and I could feel myself finally start to relax.

I slowly looked up at him and placed a soft kiss on his lips. I wrapped my arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. I don't know why, but I just needed to feel him against me. Damon kissed me back, but not the way I wanted him to.

"Blaire, what are you doing?" He looked at me and I couldn't read his expression.

"I need you right now. Please. I need to know you still love me."

I felt a single tear slip from my eye and Damon instantly wiped it away. He placed his hands on either side of my face. He slowly brought his lips to mine and gave me one of the most passionate kisses we had ever shared. I could sense that he wasn't going to let this go any further, but I could feel all of his love in that one kiss. He slowly broke the kiss and rested his forehead against mine.

"I would never stop loving you because someone tried to hurt you. You are my whole life."

He gently kissed my forehead and slowly laid us back down. He pulled the blanket up over my shoulders and I quickly fell back asleep. I realized I was a lot more tired than I thought. I don't think I ever moved once I fell back asleep. When I finally opened my eyes again, the sun was shining through my window. I blinked a few times before looking to see Damon lazily watching me.

"You know, watching me sleep is kind of creepy." I scrunched up my nose and pretended to be disgusted with him. He rolled his eyes and gently pressed a kiss to my temple.

"Well good morning to you too. I guess you want to make your own coffee this morning?"

"What time is it anyways?" I tried to hide my yawn, but I couldn't. Damon laughed and grabbed his phone. I noticed the sun was really bright, and knew it had to be late morning at least.

"It's 11. I have been awake for a while, but I didn't want to wake you. You were finally sleeping peacefully and I have nowhere else to be." He sat up and started to get out of bed.

"Aren't you going down to work today? We can't both possibly miss today. Lexi has 3 interviews set up."

Damon rolled his eyes. If he did it again, I wouldn't be surprised if they fell out of his head. "Lexi has everything under control. Besides, they should all be finished by now. I have my laptop out on the counter and can do almost everything from right here. I'm not leaving you today."

I smiled as he walked out of the room. He truly was the best. I stretched and decided to get up as well. I slowly made my way to the kitchen and sat at the counter. I folded my hands and noticed that the bruises on my wrist were darker this morning than they were last night. I slowly rubbed my wrist and suddenly felt Damon watching me.

"Do they hurt?" He nodded at my wrists and I looked back down at them. There were dark blue hand marks all the way around them. They were tender to touch, but the pain wasn't terrible.

I shrugged before looking back up. "They don't feel as bad as they look. They are just a little sore."

Damon walked around the counter and gently took my hands in his. He raised my wrists to his lips and softly placed kisses all along the bruises. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you."

I could hear the guilt in his voice. How could he blame himself? He couldn't have known this would happen anymore than I did. I gently kissed his cheek and grabbed the cup of coffee he sat in front of me. I savored the hot liquid as it quickly started to warm my body.

"Stop blaming yourself. I don't blame you. I don't want to mope today. Let's go get cozy by the fireplace and get to work."

I didn't give him a chance to answer. I went to start the fireplace and grab my laptop. I wanted to email Derek and have him set up a meeting with all of the guards. I wanted them to all be aware of what happened, and that there would be no tolerance of violence in this hotel. I also wanted him to do extensive background checks on new hires. I thought about seeing if there was a way to have police patrol even if it was for a short amount of time each day. I decided to add that to Derek's email. Maybe I was just being paranoid now. But could you blame me?

I noticed that Jen's manager had gotten back to me about which suite to book. She also asked if she could have a smaller suite on a different floor for herself. I sent Addie a text and told her the two suites to put on hold for the week Jen had requested. I then went on to answer a few more emails, and saw that Lexi had emailed us about the new EC hires.

"Hey, did you get the email from Lex about the new hires?" I didn't even look up from my screen as I was busy looking through all of the notes that Lexi had sent over. So far, they all looked good on paper. I trusted Lexi to only choose the best. It also looked like she hired all three of the candidates. Once I was able to meet them all, I would then decide what to do with Amanda.

"I was just looking over the notes she made. They all seem to be perfect matches, each with a different event focus. I think that is really what we need. Are you going to tell Amanda?" He c****d a brow as I met his gaze. I thought it over for a minute before answering.

"I suppose I need to. But I am going to have almost like a new hire meeting. I don't necessarily want Amanda to be alone with them. I have a really bad feeling that she had something to do with the incident involving Jason last night."

"I think that's a great idea. If you are wanting to go back tomorrow, how about we do it in the morning? I can get coffee and donuts to make it a welcoming atmosphere. We can also have Lexi join us. And Derek if that will make you feel better." He gave me a little smile before closing his laptop.

I returned his smile and sat my laptop aside. "That sounds perfect. I will send a text to Amanda, Lexi and Derek, and emails to the new hires."

Before I could say anything else, I heard my phone start to ring. I realized that I must have left it in the bedroom and went to grab it. I groaned when I saw Mother's name flashing on the screen. What could she possibly want right now?

"What is it Mother?"

"Blaire, what the hell happened at your hotel last night?" Damon was now standing in the doorway. I mouthed that it was Mother and finally answered her.

"I don't know what you are talking about Mother. Nothing happened here last night."

"Oh Blaire, I might be getting old but I am not stupid. It is all over the news right now. Have you not been in your own lobby? There looks to be a reporter there now."

I hung up without saying goodbye and covered my face with my hands. How did the news find out what happened? I can't believe we made it until the afternoon without being bugged by reporters. I suddenly felt Damon's hands on my arms. I didn't even look up at him.

"There is apparently a reporter downstairs telling the world about what happened."